Nunu Agara, Chloe Clardy, Hailee SwainNunu Agra, Chloe Clardy
Maddie Hinkley/ISI Photos
Women's Basketball

Stanford Begins Final Regular-Season Homestand Against SMU

Cardinal hosts Mustangs on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. on ACCNX

Gameday Central PDF Games Notes ACCNX Listen Live Stats Tickets

THE GAME: Stanford (16-12, 5-10 ACC) hosts SMU (9-19, 2-14 ACC) on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. Troy Clardy and John Platz have the call on ACCNX and Kevin Danna will handle radio on GoStanford.com, the Stanford Athletics app and Learfield’s Varsity Network.

THE RUNDOWN: Stanford is No. 46 in the NET rankings through games as of Feb. 24, 56th in Wins Above Bubble, and has played the nation’s 41st-toughest schedule ... Stanford, Louisville and Syracuse are the only ACC schools with multiple nonconference wins against Power 4 opponents ... Stanford is eighth nationally in free throw percentage (.792) ... The Cardinal has had 101 individual double-digit scoring efforts this season with only 14 20-point performances ... Lara Somfai is one of five freshmen in the country averaging 10.4 points and 9.2 rebounds ... Her seven double-doubles are the most for a Stanford freshman since Chiney Ogwumike had 11 in 2010-11 ... Chloe Clardy is one of 53 players in the country averaging 12.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.9 steals, but is one of only two to do it coming primarily off the bench ... Courtney Ogden is averaging 14.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals in the last 19 games ... The Cardinal's leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, Nunu Agara is one of six Power 4 players averaging 15.0 points and 8.5 rebounds ... Stanford has the fewest transfers on its roster among all 68 Power 4 programs ... The Cardinal boasts a roster of coaches that features four WNBA veterans, more than any other program in the country.

VS. SMU: Stanford is 1-1 all-time against SMU. The teams' only other meeting on The Farm was a 95-73 Cardinal victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on March 18, 1995. That game was Tara VanDerveer’s last in Maples Pavilion before taking off the 1995-96 season to lead the U.S. Olympic Team to gold in Atlanta. SMU won last year's matchup in Dallas, 67-63. Elena Bosgana paced Stanford with 20 points, while Nunu Agara had 19 points and 12 rebounds.

OPENING TIP »

  • Stanford picked up its second ranked win of the season on Jan. 4, knocking off then-No. 16 North Carolina on the road in overtime, 77-71. It was the Cardinal's first Top 25 win on the road since a 67-63 result at No. 11 Oregon State on Feb. 29, 2024.
  • Coupled with a 67-62 home win over then-No. 22 Washington on Dec. 19, the Cardinal is 2-2 against the AP Top 25 this season. Prior to the victory over the Huskies, Stanford had lost 10 consecutive games against ranked opponents.
  • Stanford (2-2), Duke (3-4), Louisville (3-4) and Notre Dame (2-4) are the only ACC schools with multiple victories against the AP Top 25.
  • The Cardinal has surpassed its win total from all last season when it went 16-15.
  • Stanford, Louisville and Syracuse are the only ACC schools with multiple nonconference wins against Power 4 conference opponents. The Cardinal has two Big Ten victories on its resume (Washington, Oregon), Louisville beat Colorado and Tennessee, and Syracuse has wins over Utah and Auburn.
  • The Cardinal is eighth nationally in free throw percentage (.792).
  • The school record for single-season free throw percentage is 80.8 in 2003-04.
  • Stanford’s offense hasn’t relied on just one person this season. The Cardinal has had 101 individual double-digit scoring efforts across its 29 games with only 14 20-point performances.
  • Stanford’s 101 double-digit scoring efforts are tied for 17th nationally, while its 14 20-point performances are tied for 122nd in the country. 

RESUME COMPARISON »

  • The Cardinal is No. 46 in the NET rankings through games as of Feb. 24 and has played the nation's 41st-toughest schedule.
  • Stanford has a pair of Quad 1 wins over North Carolina (NET 19) and Oregon (NET 24). The Cardinal is one of 41 teams with multiple Quad 1 wins. The Cardinal has zero Quad 1 games left on its schedule. It has one Quad 2 and one Quad 4.
  • The Cardinal has five Quad 1 and Quad 2 victories on its resume, tied for the 35th-most in the nation.
  • Stanford is first among the next four teams out (ranked 73-76) according to Charlie Creme's latest ESPN Bracketology. Mississippi State, Colorado, Princeton and Nebraska are the last four teams in, and Arizona State, Utah, Kansas and Richmond are the first four out (ranked 69-72).
Last 4 In NET WAB SOS Q1 Q2
Mississippi State 38 44 39 2-8 1-1
Colorado 44 41 53 1-4 5-1
Princeton 43 29 82 2-1 1-2
Nebraska 28 32 11 1-10 3-0
Next 4 Out NET WAB SOS Q1 Q2
Stanford 46 56 41 2-6 3-4
South Dakota State 47 51 92 0-3 2-2
California 54 60 46 1-7 2-3
BYU 60 54 55 0-5 5-3

START 'EM YOUNG »

  • When Nunu Agara was unavailable, Alexandra Eschmeyer started five consecutive games alongside fellow freshmen Hailee Swain and Lara Somfai, and juniors Chloe Clardy and Courtney Ogden.
  • Prior to the game against Louisville on Jan. 29, Eschmeyer's first start, Stanford had only started three freshmen in the same game three times in available records dating back to 1985-86:
  • The Cardinal's 63 total starts from freshmen this season (Somfai - 29; Swain - 29; Eschmeyer 5) are the fifth-most nationally behind Saint Louis (84), Middle Tennessee (82), San Francisco (77) and Akron (73). In readily available records over the past 17 seasons, the previous Stanford high for freshmen starts in a year was 41 in 2013-14.
  • On Thursday, Somfai and Swain will become the 11th and 12th Stanford freshmen to start 30 games in a season all-time.
  • Stanford’s freshmen have been as good as advertised. The group has accounted for 751 of the Cardinal’s 1,998 points, or 37.6 percent. They’re on pace to score at least 854 combined points this season, which would be the most for a Stanford freshman class since 1994-95 when Naomi Mulitauaopele (240), Kristin Folkl (227), Heather Owen (177), Olympia Scott (141), Vanessa Nygaard (94) and Regan Freuen (29) combined for 908 points.
  • The Cardinal is the only Power 4 program with multiple freshmen averaging 9.5 points per game in Lara Somfai (10.4) and Hailee Swain (9.5).
  • If Swain scores 24 more points this season, Stanford will have a pair of freshmen total more than 300 points in the same season for the first time since 1987-88 (Sonja Henning, Trisha Stevens).

OF LATE »

  • Since its win at North Carolina on Jan. 4, Stanford is 4-9 over the past two months and has not beaten a top 100 NET team. Three of those wins have been Quad 4 (Wake Forest, Boston College, Pittsburgh) and one was Quad 3 (Florida State).
  • Over those 13 games, the Cardinal has averaged 65.8 points on 39.0 percent shooting compared to 71.4 points on 45.4 percent shooting in the season's first 16 games.
  • During those 13 games, Stanford opponents have averaged 68.5 points on 41.7 percent shooting. In the 16 games to start the year, those numbers were 56.9 points and a field goal percentage of 36.4.
  • Stanford has played its last nine games without senior starting point guard Talana Lepolo and missed junior starting forward Nunu Agara for a five-game stretch in early February. Lepolo and Agara have combined for 136 career starts. The rest of the team has combined for 146 starts at Stanford.
  • Stanford's win at Florida State on Sunday snapped its second four-game losing streak of the season. Prior to this year, Stanford had not lost four consecutive games in the same season for the first time since January and February 1987. Its last four-game losing streak of any kind was the final game of 1997-98 season (Harvard) and the first three games of 1998-99 (Arkansas, Duke, Illinois).
  • The Cardinal has also lost its last five at home for the first time in 42 years. Stanford lost its final home game of the 1982-83 season to No. 7 Long Beach State and the first four home games of the 1983-84 season to Fresno State, Pacific, California and Cal Poly Pomona.
  • Stanford is 9-6 at home this season, its most home losses since going 9-6 in 1986-87.

OGDEN ON FIRE »

  • A 43.5 percent shooter as a freshman and sophomore, Courtney Ogden is making 51.3 percent this season (141-of-275) and is four makes shy of appearing in the conference rankings for field goal percentage (minimum five made per game). Her 51.3 percent clip would be seventh in the ACC.
  • In her last 19 games, the junior is averaging 14.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals. In the season's first 10 games she averaged 7.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 0.8 steals.
  • She had zero 20-point games and 14 10-point games in her first 72 career outings and now has six 20-point performances and 14 10-point performances in her last 19.
  • Against Notre Dame on Feb. 1, Ogden registered her first career double-double with 23 points and 10 boards, and she had another 23 points and a career-high eight assists at Pitt.
  • Ogden is the first Stanford player with 23 points and eight assists since Kiana Williams had 25 and eight against UCLA on Feb. 7, 2020.
  • On Jan. 15 at Boston College, she had 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists, the first Stanford player with that line in a road game since Cameron Brink had 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists at Utah on Feb. 25, 2023.
  • She was named ACC Co-Player of the Week on Dec. 15 after scoring a career-high 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting to go with seven rebounds, two assists and one block in the Cardinal’s 78-69 win to open ACC play against Cal.
  • Her efficient performance is one of 67 in the country this season in which a player has scored 25 points on at least 80.0 percent shooting, but one of only 16 to come against a Power 4 opponent. 

SUPERB START FOR SOMFAI »

  • Freshman Lara Somfai is averaging 10.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game this season, one of five freshmen in the country with those numbers.
  • She is fourth in the ACC in rebounding. No ACC freshman has averaged 9.0 rebounds for an entire season since North Carolina's Janelle Bailey in 2017-18 (9.1). The Stanford record for freshman rebounding average is held by Kaylee Johnson in 2014-15 (9.6).
  • Her four conference Rookie of the Week awards are the most in program history. Haley Jones was a three-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week in 2019-20 and Kaylee Johnson was a three-time winner in 2014-15. The Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award began in 2012-13.
  • Somfai is also tied for fifth in the ACC in double-doubles (7) and has the most double-doubles for a Stanford freshman since Chiney Ogwumike had a school freshman record 11 in 2010-11.
  • Against Pitt on Feb. 5, Somfai went for 15 points, 23 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and three blocks, becoming just the second player in NCAA history with those numbers in available records dating back to 2002-03 and the only freshman. Illinois-Chicago’s Ruvanna Campbell had the exact same line against Northern Illinois on Nov. 17, 2014.
  • Somfai’s 23 boards are an ACC freshman record, the most by a major conference freshman in the country this season, and the most for an ACC player since Sarah Imovbioh (Virginia) had 24 against Ohio State on Nov. 14, 2014. Her rebounding total is tied for third in Stanford history, trailing only 24-rebound performances from Cameron Brink at Oregon State on Feb. 29, 2024 and Chiney Ogwumike against Oregon on Feb. 24, 2013.
  • Somfai followed that up with a career-high 19 points, nine rebounds, six assists and one block at Georgia Tech. She’s the only freshman with that line in a game this season and the first ACC freshman to do it since Hannah Hidalgo in Dec. 2023.
  • A well-rounded player, Somfai has 302 points, 268 rebounds, 39 assists, 22 blocks and 21 steals. She is tracking to become just the 19th freshman in NCAA history to total 300 points, 300 steals, 40 assists, 20 blocks and 20 steals and the first Power 4 freshman to do it since Minnesota's Amanda Zahui B. and North Carolina's Stephanie Mavunga in 2013-14. The only other Stanford freshman to do it was Kayla Pedersen in 2007-08. The first name on the list is Cheryl Miller in 1982-83.

SUBER SUB »

  • Chloe Clardy is one of 53 players in the country averaging 12.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.9 steals, but one of only two to do it coming off primarily off the bench (MiLaysia Fulwiley - LSU).
  • She is one of three ACC players with those averages along with Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame) and Kymora Johnson (Virginia).
  • Clardy leads eligible ACC players for Sixth Player of the Year in scoring (12.1 ppg) and steals (1.9 spg).

AGARA AGAIN »

  • Stanford’s leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, Nunu Agara is one of six Power 4 players averaging 15.0 points and 8.5 rebounds along with NC State's Khamil Pierre (17.1 ppg/11.9 rpg), UCLA's Lauren Betts (16.7 ppg/8.6 rpg), Kentucky's Clara Strack (16.5 ppg/10.4 rpg), Miami's Ra Shaya Kyle (16.0 ppg/10.3 rpg) and Oklahoma's Raegan Beers (15.9 ppg/8.5 rpg).
  • She is 11th in the ACC in scoring, eighth in rebounding, and ninth in field goal percentage (.454).
  • Agara was voted ACC Player of the Week on Nov. 24 after averaging a double-double of 20.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in Stanford’s wins against UC Davis (70-45) and Lehigh (98-43). She shot 75.0 percent from the floor across the two games, making 15 of her 20 field goal attempts. It was Stanford’s first conference player of the week since Cameron Brink won Pac-12 Player of the Week on March 4, 2024.
  • Against Lehigh on Nov. 23, Agara poured in 24 points on a perfect 10-of-10 shooting, tying the school record for single-game field goal percentage. Just last year, Elena Bosgana was 10-of-10 from the floor in a win over UC San Diego on Nov. 29. Kim Kupferer was 11-of-11 from the floor in a game against Pacific on Jan. 24, 1981. Agara is one of four players in the country this season to be perfect from the floor when attempting at least 10 field goals (Clara Silva - TCU; Grace Oliver - Wake Forest; Ja'Kahla Craft - Seton Hall).
  • A career 82.8 percent free throw shooter (221-of-267), is fifth in school history in that category. She leads all ACC post players at the line this season, shooting 82.7 percent (81-of-98).

ESCHMEYER'S EMERGENCE »

  • Freshman Alexandra Eschmeyer scored a career-high 16 points and had seven rebounds and four blocks in the Jan. 25 game at Cal, becoming the first Cardinal freshman with 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in a game since Cameron Brink against Oregon State on March 5, 2021 (24p, 11r, 4b) and just the fourth since 2002-03, joining Brink, Kayla Pedersen and Jayne Appel.
  • In her last 14 games, she is averaging 5.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks after putting up 4.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in her first 15 outings.
  • Eschmeyer had 11 rebounds and a career-high six blocks in the victory over Wake Forest on Jan. 8.
  • Her six blocks against Wake Forest were the most for a Stanford player since Cameron Brink had seven in the 2024 Sweet 16 against NC State and the most for a Cardinal freshman since Brink had six in the 2021 Final Four against South Carolina. She’s the first Stanford freshman with 11 rebounds and six blocks in available records dating back to 2002-03 and one of four freshmen in the country to have those numbers in a game this season along with Maddison Krug (Lafayette), Alyssa Koerkenmeier (Saint Louis) and Avril Smith (Omaha).
  • The only other Stanford players with 11 rebounds and six blocks in records dating back to 2002-03 include Cameron Brink (nine times), Alanna Smith (two times), Chiney Ogwumike and Jayne Appel. 

RETURNING PRODUCTION »

  • Stanford is near the top of the ACC in returning production, welcoming back 54.2 percent of its scoring (1,221 of 2,255 points), 49.7 percent of its rebounding (583 of 1,172 rebounds), 57.4 percent of its assists (251 of 437 assists) and 56.9 percent of its minutes played (3,585 of 6,300 minutes).
  • The Cardinal is fourth in the ACC in returning points (Duke - 67.7%, Virginia 61.6%, Virginia Tech 54.7%), second in returning rebounds (Duke - 64.1%), fourth in returning assists (Virginia - 70.7%, Virginia Tech - 68.5%, Duke - 63.0%), and third in returning minutes (Duke - 68.1%, Virginia Tech - 57.6%).

CARDINAL CONTINUITY »

  • The Cardinal only has one transfer on its roster in junior Mary Ashley Stevenson, who is in her second year on The Farm after playing one season at Purdue.
  • Stanford has the fewest transfers on its roster among all 68 Power 4 programs. NC State, Washington and Oklahoma each have two.
  • Among Power 4 schools, Stanford and Washington tied for the least amount of portal movement this offseason (total number of transfers in + transfers out). The Cardinal had two outgoing transfers in senior Tess Heal (Kansas State) and graduate student Jzaniya Harriel (SMU). The Huskies, which had zero outgoing transfers, welcomed two incoming transfers in Avery Howell (USC) and Yulia Grabovskaia (Michigan).

SUPERB STAFF »

  • Stanford boasts a roster of coaches that features four WNBA veterans, more than any other program in the country, in Kate Paye, Katy Steding, Erica McCall and Jeanette Pohlen. All are Stanford graduates.
  • Paye played 79 games for Minnesota and Seattle from 2000-02, Steding 55 games for Sacramento and Seattle in 2000 and 2001, Pohlen 148 games for Indiana from 2011-2017, and McCall 122 games for Indiana, Atlanta, Minnesota and Washington from 2017-21.
  • While not a coach, Karlie Samuelson, a 2017 honorable mention All-American who led the Cardinal to two Final Fours, has returned to her alma mater as an intern for the 2025-26 season.
  • Back with the program while she rehabs from a left foot injury sustained in June, Samuelson has played for six franchises across seven WNBA seasons since her graduation from Stanford with a degree in human biology in in 2017.

FIRST CLASS »

Player HoopGurlz Rank Stars Ht./Pos.
Hailee Swain 8 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5-11 • G
Lara Somfai 12 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6-4 • F
Alexandra Eschmeyer 21 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6-5 • F
Nora Ezike 85 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6-2 • F
Carly Amborn -- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6-2 • G
  • Stanford’s three five-star signees tied for the national lead with Tennessee and LSU and the program’s most since it had four in the Class of 2019 (Haley Jones, Ashten Prechtel, Fran Belibi, Hannah Jump).
  • Of the 24 women selected to be McDonald’s All Americans, Stanford (Eschmeyer, Somfai, Swain) and Ten­nessee had the most players suiting up next fall with three commits each. Stanford’s three McDonald’s All Americans were almost as many as the rest of the ACC combined (4).

PRESEASON ACC PROGNOSTICATIONS »

  • The Cardinal was picked to finish sixth in the ACC in a vote of the league’s 18 head coaches and Blue Ribbon Panel. Stanford totaled 1,041 points from 70 voters to finish sixth in the predicted order of finish behind Duke, NC State, North Carolina, Louisville, and Notre Dame.
  • An All-ACC second team selection last season, Nunu Agara was voted to the 10-person Preseason All-ACC Team. She was Stanford’s leading scorer (15.8 ppg) and rebounder (7.6 rpg) a season ago and is the ACC’s third-leading returning scorer (Hannah Hidalgo – Notre Dame; Kymora Johnson - Virginia) and its second-lead­ing returning rebounder (Jessica Peterson - Miami).
  • Hailee Swain and Lara Somfai landed on the six-person Preseason All-Freshman Team and Stanford was the only school with multiple players on the list.

SEASON OF CHANGE »

  • After making 36 consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 1988-2024, Stanford was not an at-large selection to the field in 2024-25 and appeared in the WBIT for the first time.
  • Stanford was 49th in the NET rankings ahead of Selection Sunday, the fourth-highest rated program to not make the NCAA Tournament (No. 39 Minnesota, No. 46 Virginia Tech; No. 48 UNLV).
  • The Cardinal was 50th in the final NET rankings after the completion of the NCAA Tournament.
  • With a 16-15 overall record, Stanford posted a winning record for the 38th consecutive season, the fifth-longest active streak in the country.
  • The Cardinal’s 16 wins were its fewest since 1986-87 (14) and its 8-10 conference mark was its first sub-.500 league record since the same year (8-10).
  • Stanford finished 261st nationally in field goal percentage defense (.421) and 286th in scoring defense (69.3) last season. Prior to 2024-25 and in available NCAA records dating to 2001-02, the Cardinal had never finished outside the top 50 in field goal percentage defense and had been outside the top 100 in scoring defense just twice.
  • Stanford played in a different league for the first time since Tara VanDerveer’s first Cardinal squad played in the Pac-West in 1985-86.

HOME OF CHAMPIONS »

  • Stanford has won at least one NCAA team title in each of the past 49 years (dating back to the 1976-77 campaign), the longest streak in NCAA history.
  • Stanford leads the NCAA with 137 team titles, including two national team championships during the 2024-25 campaign - women’s water polo and women’s rowing, increasing its overall total to 173.
  • Stanford is one of six schools with at least one national championship in football, baseball, and men’s basketball, and the only school with at least one in football, baseball, men’s and women’s basketball.
  • From 1995-2019, Stanford won 25 straight Division I Learfield Sports Directors’ Cups. The Cardinal enters the 2025-26 year with 26 of the 31 total Directors’ Cups, most recently capturing the award during the 2022-23 season.